Does Student Affairs Need a Technology MOOC? #saMOOC

Does your student affairs / higher education graduate program have a technology class? Have you ever hoped for a student affairs technology book? Maybe it's time to look at something outside of our usual wheelhouse. What am I talking about? Well, last October, I tweeted out a question about whether or not we should look at creating a Student Affairs Technology MOOC.

Maybe we should create a MOOC for Student Affairs Technology… #SAtech[2]#SAchat[3]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are all about open access with a large number of students. The "#saMOOC" could be the perfect place for student affairs graduate students and practitioners to learn about new technologies. A separate MOOC about strategic communications would be nice too. But let's not get greedy. We could include social media in the #saMOOC…for now. I realize that there are student affairs graduate programs that include technology courses. However, the current slate of things is fairly inconsistent. Technology courses for student affairs graduate students are often listed as being optional. It would be nice if technology were woven as an intentional thread throughout higher education / student affairs programs, but the reality is that that just isn't enough.

The content for the #saMOOC could be crowdsourced from a variety of individuals and solutions providers. As technology evolves, so would the MOOC. It would even be valuable for the existing efforts around student affairs professional certification/credentialing. The #saMOOC would epitomize lifelong learning and professional development. And, as an added benefit, practitioners would gain firsthand experience in using the latest in online learning platforms. That knowledge could come in handy when working with online-only students. What do you think…are we ready for a Student Affairs Technology MOOC?